In the treatment of injuries to articulated joints of the human body and/or the members of the body joined by such joints, particularly during the recuperation or rehabilitation period of the treatment, it is conventional in the art to fully or partially immobilize the joint and associated body members by means of a removable brace or appliance.
The prior art is replete with a wide variety of such orthopaedic appliances, including braces which retain the limb members and the joint in fixed position relative to one another, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,793; braces that include a joint or hinge accommodating substantially complete articulation or freedom of movement of the joint, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,927; braces that accommodate a limited range of motion of the joint, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,549,382; and braces including a hinge that is adjustable to accommodate either variable limited ranges of motion of the joint and/or multiple fixed angle adjustments of the joint and the body members joined by the joint. Representative disclosures of the latter type of braces and appliances are found in U.S. Pat. No(s). 4,340,041, 4,531,515 and 4,771,768.
Frank U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,041 is directed to a knee brace including a hinge comprising a pair of semi-circular plates secured to opposite sides of a rigid anchor bar, and a second anchor bar inserted between the two plates and pivotally connected to the plates by a central pivot pin. The two semicircular plates are provided with corresponding pairs of holes formed concentrically about the pivot axis, and the second bar contains holes which are adapted to be aligned with a corresponding pair of the holes in the two plates. A securing bolt is adapted to be inserted through a hole in one of the plates through one or the other of the holes in the second bar, and threaded into the corresponding hole in the other of the plates, thereby to lock the second bar in any one of a multiple of fixed angle positions relative to the first bar. However, in order to adjust the angle between the bars or to release the hinge, it is necessary to completely remove the bolts from two hinges, one each on the opposite sides of the knee, and then subsequently to realign the bolt holes in the proper locations on both sides of the knee and to replace the bolts which, assuming the bolts have not been misplaced, is neither easy nor convenient to accomplish.
Rolfes U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,515 discloses a hip and upper leg brace including a hinge arrangement similar to that of Frank wherein a pair of pins can be so arranged in a circular yoke as to lock two support arms in anyone of a multiple of fixed angles relative to one another, or to permit various ranges of motion between the two arms. The Rolfes hinge suffers essentially the same disadvantages as the Frank hinge.
Crispin U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,768 is directed to a lower leg and ankle brace or walker including a very complex and difficult to adjust ankle joint hinge having four individually adjustable control members that are adapted to be adjusted to various fixed angles and that can also be adjusted to selectively allow articulation through controlled angular ranges of motion within preset limits in dorsiflexion only, in plantar flexion only, or in combined dorsiflexion and plantar flexion. The hinge structure is far more complex than required by the art, and is extremely difficult to adjust.